


Deal Breaker.

by reidbyers



Series: Ralvez Week. [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: M/M, Ralvez Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 06:44:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12007248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reidbyers/pseuds/reidbyers
Summary: Spencer was set up on a blind date with one of Emily’s friends, he went into it knowing nothing but his name and that she thought they would get on. She happened to leave out an important detail that would make for an awful pun and perhaps a little shock for Spencer.





	Deal Breaker.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to Ralvez week, a event held by me your local rubbish bin on tumblr at "sapphicpage". Monday’s prompt was “Blind Date” and here is the fic inspired by that prompt, I hope you all enjoy!

Spencer had no idea how he had been convinced into going on this date, it wasn’t like he was going around telling his team about how lonely he was because he wasn’t, he enjoyed his life as a single person as it allowed him to indulge in the things he liked to do without thinking of another person. He wasn’t a selfish person at all, he just found it difficult to imagine wanting to interrupt the life he had built for himself for someone who he didn’t know would be a match for him at all. It had been Emily’s idea to set him up on a blind date, he hadn’t even brought the idea up he had just been sitting there innocently at his desk when she marched up and told him what she had done, much to his detest.

Apparently she knew a friend of hers who also was just as single as Spencer was (he wondered what Emily meant by that, was there varying levels of single that he was unaware of?) and was willing to go out on a date with him. Spencer knew there was no point in trying to argue with her, it was unlikely that she was about to go tell this mystery person that the date was cancelled even if Spencer wasn’t eager to go on it. The few dates he had been on during his life had for the most part sucked, he knew not many people understood the way he spoke about things or found his mannerisms strange and this wasn’t even the first time he’d been set up by someone on the team. Morgan had attempted to set up a double date but ended up going home with both of the girls when the one who was supposed to be Spencer’s dated showed more of an interest in him; Spencer wasn’t that mad as frankly he didn’t find her that interesting.

No matter how many times Spencer asked Emily to tell him about his date she refused, kept reiterating the fact that it was a blind date and if she were to tell him anything then the whole thing wouldn’t be as fun. She did however tell him that his name was Luke but that was it, nothing about his interests, his appearance, nothing so he was literally going into this whole thing blind. He didn’t even know if Emily had told Luke anything about him or was he too going into this with no preconceptions? It would be easy to just make up an excuse as to why he couldn’t do, say he already had plans or something along those lines but because he didn’t want to come across as rude and he didn’t actually have any plans; he agreed to go on this date. He didn’t say it was going to lead to anything or that he would enjoy it but he agreed to give this person a shot, what was the worst that could come from all this?

Emily set up the whole thing, she chose a restaurant with a large outside eating area which went Spencer arrived he leant she had seated them outside. All the tables and chairs were sat upon rows and rows of dark chestnut wood, decorative plants both real and fake were set around the area with little fairy lights strung above them. They also decorated the warm brick wall of the outside of the restaurant, moss and ivy also crawling their way up the wall to help with the atmospheric environment. The whole space was open, plenty of space and definitely the sort of place you took a first date, Spencer could see why Emily had chosen this place. He took the time to look around as he was taken to his table after asking the front desk about a reservation under the name Reid, probably because Emily knew he was going to be early just so he could scope the place out.

Once taken to his table Spencer sat down and made himself comfortable, adjusting the cutlery and then laying the napkin down over his lap, then making the decision to put it back down on the table so that when he stood up to greet Luke it didn’t just fall onto the floor. Spencer was around fifteen minutes early so he took the opportunity to look through the menu and decide on what he wanted, checking all his options as he hated feeling that stress when he was the last person to decide what he wanted to eat while out for dinner, it happened all the time with the team. If Emily had coughed up any information about Luke such as if he drank alcohol then Spencer would have been less stressed out over what he should order to drink, he didn’t drink often but if Luke did then should be also? Would he look strange if he just ordered a glass of water? This was exactly why he didn’t like going on dates, he was worried about a paper napkin falling on the floor and whether or not water was a suitable drinking option, that wasn’t a normal thing for other people but for him he couldn’t go without these worries.

He was so caught up in looking at the menu that the fifteen minutes flew by, it felt only like a matter of minutes but he was brought back into reality when he felt something wet press against his fingers. His immediate reaction was to jerk his hand away and looked back to see what on earth it was that had just touched him, what he was meet with was a dog. Out of all the places he would expect to see a dog at this restaurant was not one, Spencer frowned down at the dog before looking up at the person who he could only assume was her owner; then he realised that this was his date.

“Spencer?” Luke asked and Spencer shot up out of his seat with the intentions of shaking his hand or something because he assumed that was what people did nowadays but Luke was already walking forward to the other side of the table, his dog leading the way before sitting down beside Luke’s chair. Spencer watched as Luke slowly sat down, putting his free hand which wasn’t holding the lead out to feel for the table, it was then that Spencer realised that Luke was blind. Perhaps didn’t have full blindness as he appeared to have some awareness of his surroundings and he could look forward at Spencer but struggled to tie the dog’s leash to the chair, didn’t even bother turning round to look at what he was doing.

“Yes! Yes hi, I’m-I’m Spencer. You must be Luke.” Spencer quickly sat back down opposite Luke and while he was busy making sure the leash was firm on the chair Spencer took the opportunity to take in Luke’s appearance. He was attractive, that was for damn sure. Attractive enough to make him wonder what on earth Emily was thinking setting them up, never in a million years would he have ever even remotely tried to flirt with him as he wasn’t that keen on being turned down. The only explanation to this was Emily also hadn’t told him anything about his date, but by Spencer’s deductions maybe appearance wouldn’t be a thing Luke cared that much about.

There was a slight pause involving an awkward silence once Luke finished fiddling with the leash, no one really knew what to say and then it hit Luke that perhaps Spencer wasn’t expecting his date to walk in with a guide dog. While the world was not always guide to people with disabilities he had found himself surrounded by people who understood and didn’t make him ever feel alienated because of his condition, it hadn’t even occurred to him until now that some people would find him marching in on a first date with a dog strange.

“Emily didn’t tell you, did she?” Luke asked slowly, not saddened by this realisation but instead wondering why she wouldn’t at least tell Spencer this. She wouldn’t tell him anything about who is date would be but his name but he at least thought she would tell Spencer that Luke had this condition, not because it was this big deal but it would have saved him the awkwardness and now he had to explain everything to Spencer who he didn’t know would be okay with it all. His condition wasn’t a huge issue, he’d had it most of his life and had spent plenty of time learning how to live with it, it wouldn’t be life changing to have someone say they didn’t want to deal with his issues despite being interested in him as a person.

“She did not.” Spencer said with a sigh, for Luke’s sake it would have been better if Emily had mentioned this because now he was worried he made Luke feel uncomfortable or like their differences were some deal breaker. When it came to potential partners all Spencer called about was if they were a good person and whether or not they had anything in common. It also wasn’t like him not been bothered by Luke’s condition was some big thing that needed to be praised, it made him a decent person and that was about it.

“I’m going to get this out of the way so we don’t need to talk about it again. Roxy is my guide dog, I have Retinitis Pigmentosa which is-”

“It’s a group of inherited eye conditions that affect and damage the retina at the back of the eye, the cells stop working and end up dying.” Spencer soon realised that he had interrupted Luke in the middle of him explaining his condition and suddenly was filled with remorse, he hadn’t meant to come across as rude but that was exactly what he had done. Interrupting was something he did a lot and while it was never malicious it wasn’t exactly polite, especially now when Luke had decided to share this part of his life that perhaps had some pain behind it for all Spencer knew. “I’m sorry I didn’t- I wasn’t trying to- please continue.”

Instead of being offended that he’d been interrupted, Luke found Spencer’s rambling endearing, it was also nice to have someone who knew what it was he had so he didn’t have to start talking on and on and bore him with the details. So Spencer was a smart guy, that was an attractive trait and Luke wondered what else he knew about, at least they’d have plenty to talk about. Emily must have known what she was doing when she set them up, something must have made her think they were going to be a good match and Luke chose to trust her.

“I can see somewhat, I have no night vision though and very little peripheral or central vision hence my girl.” Luke reached down and found a nose nuzzling up against his palm, he smiled and gave her a quick rub behind her ears before retreating his hand back. “Roxy here stops me from bumping into everything while I’m walking around, without her I’d struggle a lot.” Spencer listened with interest, holding his tongue so he didn’t butt in once again because next time maybe Luke wouldn’t be as understanding. He waited a few seconds after Luke stopped talking before he started again, catching himself smiling down at the two little pointed ears just sticking up above the table. Spencer didn’t consider himself much of a dog person at all but Roxy was trained and there to help Luke out so it wouldn’t be that great of him to point out his slight fear of them, that and he didn’t want to once again make himself look like a bit of an asshole. For some reason he wanted Luke to like him, whether or not that was because Luke seemed like a really nice guy or because he wanted someone to like him in general Spencer was unsure.

“Have you known Emily for long?” Spencer knew Luke probably wouldn’t want to spend this whole date talking about the problems with his eyes, it wasn’t exactly the most romantic of topics and it didn’t tell Spencer that much about him. Great, he was blind but what did he do for a job? What were his favourite TV shows? What was his damn political standpoint? While his condition was important it wasn’t all of him and Spencer wanted Luke to know he cared about other things to do with him, that him being blind was not a deal breaker in the slightest.

They chatted for a while about how each of them knew Emily, soon turning into the conversation of what they each did for work and then that somehow developing into their interests. They were clearly different people but for some reason that worked out, Luke liked how intelligent Spencer was and how his dorkiness was so evident and Spencer couldn’t relate to Luke less when it came to his interests but he was still so encompassed by it all as if it were the most interesting things he’d ever heard. Luke had a bit of a wicked sense of humour that Spencer enjoyed and even though he couldn’t understand why, Luke truly enjoyed listening to him ramble on and on about his interests which revolved a lot around topics such as physics or geography.

Spencer read the menu out for Luke as he was unable to read it due to the text being too small, he chuckled at the joke Luke made about having an alcoholic drink because it wasn’t like he was about to drive anywhere and then they were left for another half an hour to chat the night away. They were one of a few couples at the restaurant, the atmosphere was warm and hopeful, like everyone was hoping the best of the night and hoping she would be kind to them. Even when the food came they chatted in between bites, Roxy looking up at Luke and his food but knowing better than to beg for any.

Three and a half hours later and a starter, meal and shared dessert later the two men were leaving the restaurant, Roxy trotting in front of Luke to make sure he didn’t walk into anything. Spencer walked beside him, his tummy full from the delicious food and his heart sinking a little at the realisation the date was over. He couldn’t believe he had been so adamant to go on it, Luke was incredible and there was no way Spencer would have gotten the courage to ask him out if he had saw him on the street or such thing. Emily had been right in her judgements, they got on perfectly and all he could do was hope was that Luke felt the same way.

“I’m just going to say it.” Luke’s voice brought Spencer back to earth, the second time he’d gotten caught up in his thoughts that night. They were now stood outside of Spencer’s car, Luke didn’t live that far from the restaurant and that was probably one of the main reasons Emily had chosen it. Spencer’s heartbeat increased tenfold as he waited for Luke to say whatever it was he was thinking, the anxiety of wondering what it would be slowly eating Spencer alive. “Would you like to go on another date sometime?”

“Yes.” Spencer said before the word “date” had even finished coming out of Luke’s mouth, a tiny part of him was thankful for Luke’s poor sight so he couldn’t see the dark blush that just rose up the entirety of his face. He hadn’t meant to answer so quickly but he didn’t want Luke to think even for a second that he wasn’t interested because he was more than interested, like all the small fuck ups he’d made that night Luke found this one just as amusing and chuckled. “I mean, yes…I do.”

They did go on a second date, and then a third, and it carried on and on after that until Luke asked Spencer to make things official between them. The next day Spencer practically skipped into work and at the sight of Emily he rushed up to her and gave her the biggest hug of her life, thanking her for getting him over his fear of going out on dates and indirectly his fear of dogs because now there was a dog he adored and adored him in return. As first dates went, theirs was as good as they came and Spencer was only more excited for the things to come for them. There were endless amounts of things he wanted to do but only with Luke by his side, and Roxy of course.


End file.
